#1 Start Here

Food is Life.

No wonder it is pushed on babies. Eat, eat! Once upon a time, the chubbier they looked the healthier we assumed they were. I recall stories from my mother’s childhood in the 1930’s, when during times of crisis, food rations caused stress and panic. Today, we are now becoming evermore aware of the implications these dire situations had on babies and their future developmental stages.

Paradoxically, in our modern western civilization, not only do we err from eating too much of the wrong foods but we are guilty of over consuming too much so-called healthy food too. And I think that generally, we eat too often as well! I am writing this from Canada and I am making this sweeping statement based on what I see going on particularly in North America. However, it is worth noting that even with all the knowledge, affluence and abundance of the developed food-rich world, there are many among us, who are living malnourished lives.

Unless you have been diagnosed with hypoglycemia or another medical condition which requires more frequent meals, chances are that you can get through the day eating a generous amount of real whole foods following the three meals a day plus an afternoon “tea” schedule.

“We” know that dieting doesn’t work and it definitely doesn’t teach us how to establish and maintain a healthy non-fluctuating lifelong weight. But in the same breath I think that it is OK to feel hungry prior to mealtime. I know that this sounds conflicting…

I am not exactly sure when grazing became all the rage but it is everywhere and it is encouraged by doctors,dietitians, nutritionists and countless health magazines. Parents send their kids to school with ample snacks in case they are suddenly stranded from civilization and cannot make it from breakfast to lunch, (I jest). Or because of finicky eaters who won’t eat full meals, or because parents are disorganized and haven’t planned well enough to eat proper filling meals at established times and therefore rely on ‘eating on the run’ and snacking. I have done all of this, and have been working really hard to correct these bad habits. As a parent, it is my responsibility to teach my kids how, when, where and what to eat…

…Which may very likely be one of parentings’ biggest challenges.

“You can lead a horse to water,

but you cannot make it drink.”

Another version of this old saying is: “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. All you can do is salt the water.” Meaning that through deception or manipulation you can coerce your subject to do what is in his best interest. Personally, I am not interested in manipulating my kids or using deceptive practices to get nutritious food into them. I have read about strategies of mixing in vegetables into brownies or other foods ensuring the kids are duped into eating their vegetables. At first it seems like a genius plan, but after some consideration one realizes that the children learn nothing from this exercise, but rather that they are permitted to eat copious amounts of unhealthy food.

I have made a lot of mistakes with teaching my kids a lot of things along the way. The first mistake that I made was in nursing my babies too often, probably more often than they needed. As an inexperienced first time very sleep deprived mother, I would often turn to nursing as a method to soothe my fussing babies. This strategy would solve the problem of the moment but unfortunately set the tone for how we would deal with hunger, satiety and temper tantrums.

What could possibly be wrong with eating small meals or snacks throughout the day?

Lots!

It contributes to tooth decay because the mouth is in a constant state of having food or drinks coating the teeth and gums, which inhibits the saliva from doing its job.

It distorts our relationship with hunger and satiety

It contributes to environmental waste

Welcome to YOU AS A COOK.

This site grew as a place to house my ever growing collection of recipes and food related resources. There is a lot of information out there; a lot of it is great and a lot of it it mis-directed. Most of it is dispensed by well-intentioned folk, like myself. My feeling is that there is no ONE way or one approach for all people; each of us is an Experiment of ONE. We need to consider the complexity of our individual systems by paying closer attention to our entire being. We need to ask ourselves a lot of questions daily, such as: